University of Gothenburg
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The Bernhard Karlgren Seminar Series

‘Geographically’, the seminars revolve around China and Chinese traditions, but with a pronounced interest in the larger methodological and theoretical questions that Sinology shares with the Humanities. The invited scholars present their works-in-progess: cutting-edge research in the intersections of Sinology and Anthropology, Archaeology, Comparative Literature, Linguistics, Religious Studies, and Translation Theory.

The Karlgren Seminar Series is part of the current expansion of the Chinese Programme at the University of Gothenburg, and is headed by Fredrik Fällman, Elena Pollacchi and Martin Svensson Ekström, Associate Professors of Sinology and specialized in Religious Studies, Film Studies and Comparative Literature, respectively.

Thus far the seminar series have seen lectures from, among others, Wolfgang Behr (Zurich), Carine Defoort (Leuven), Anna Gustafsson Chen (well-known translator), Göran Aijmer (Gothenburg), Eric Hayot (Penn State) and Lothar von Falkenhausen (UCLA).

Most seminars are recorded and made available here.

Who was Bernhard Karlgren?

Bernhard Karlgren (1889-1978) was Professor of East Asian Languages at the University of Gothenburg, and served as the University’s Vice Chancellor between 1931 and 1936. Karlgren—one of the most important and influential sinologists of the past century—is foremost known as a linguist, but was also the author of many works in which rigorous philology is paired with a keen interest in questions of methodology.

Lectures 2020-2021

Navigate to video: Boris Maslov: Cross-Historical Comparison in Literary Studies
Video (55:32)
Boris Maslov: Cross-Historical Comparison in Literary Studies
Navigate to video: Chloë Starr: The Bible in Modern Chinese Fiction
Video (53:25)
Chloë Starr: The Bible in Modern Chinese Fiction
Navigate to video: Chris Berry: Taiwanese-Language Cinema in the Martial Law Era as a Cinema of the Cold War
Video (44:49)
Chris Berry: Taiwanese-Language Cinema in the Martial Law Era as a Cinema of the Cold War

Lectures 2019

Navigate to video: Erik Schluessel 2019-12-11; Colonial Muslim History of Qing Central Asia: Revisiting Sayrami's Tarikh-i Hamidi
Video (52:05)
Erik Schluessel 2019-12-11; Colonial Muslim History of Qing Central Asia: Revisiting Sayrami's Tarikh-i Hamidi
Navigate to video: David W Pankenier, 2019-05-02; A Chinese Mythos of Mantic Turtles, Number, and Celestial Inspiration
Video (54:38)
David W Pankenier, 2019-05-02; A Chinese Mythos of Mantic Turtles, Number, and Celestial Inspiration
Navigate to video: Imre Galambos 2019-09-30; Claims of Ownership in Manuscripts from Dunhuang
Video (50:47)
Imre Galambos 2019-09-30; Claims of Ownership in Manuscripts from Dunhuang
Navigate to video: Yegor Grebnev 2019-04-15; Relocation of the capital as the leitmotif in the Shang shu and its historical implications
Video (28:49)
Yegor Grebnev 2019-04-15; Relocation of the capital as the leitmotif in the Shang shu and its historical implications
Navigate to video: David Holm, 2019-05-27; Methods of Analysis for Vernacular Character Texts: Taking Complexity and Emergence into Account
Video (1:14:17)
David Holm, 2019-05-27; Methods of Analysis for Vernacular Character Texts: Taking Complexity and Emergence into Account
Navigate to video: Gerda Wielander 2019-02-27; Chinese Happiness: Can the Chinese Dream Make People Happy?
Video (57:11)
Gerda Wielander 2019-02-27; Chinese Happiness: Can the Chinese Dream Make People Happy?

Lectures 2018

Navigate to video: Astrid Moller-Olsen 2018-11-14; Flora Nostalgia: Plants and the Smell of Place in Sinophone Fiction
Video (38:39)
Astrid Moller-Olsen 2018-11-14; Flora Nostalgia: Plants and the Smell of Place in Sinophone Fiction
Navigate to video: Zhang Longxi 2018-10-01
Video (36:38)
Zhang Longxi 2018-10-01
Navigate to video: David Lebovitz 2018-04-10; Prosody, Paratext, Content and Form in the Tsinghua *Rui Liangfu bi Manuscript
Video (1:12:56)
David Lebovitz 2018-04-10; Prosody, Paratext, Content and Form in the Tsinghua *Rui Liangfu bi Manuscript